Authorities: FBI agent wounded at hotel while searching for missing 9-year-old Texas girl
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An FBI agent was wounded and a kidnapping suspect was killed Tuesday when gunfire broke out at a Louisiana motel where a 9-year-old girl from Texas was found safe, authorities said.
The agent, whose name was not released, was hit in the leg and his wound was not life-threatening, the FBI said.
Officer Sandy Eubanks of the police department in Benbrook, Texas, the girl’s home city, said the suspect was killed when an FBI task force attempted to take him into custody.
The FBI said the suspect had been shot but would not give details or confirm the death.
The suspect was identified as Jessie Nicholas Williams, 24.
Eubanks said authorities received numerous tips about the girl’s whereabouts after an Amber Alert was issued early Tuesday. She was reported missing Monday.
The investigation led FBI agents from Shreveport, Louisiana, to a Days Inn in nearby Bossier City.
“They encountered the suspect and a struggle ensued. During the struggle, an FBI agent was shot,” a brief FBI statement said.
Benbrook is about 220 miles west of Bossier City, near Fort Worth